Optimization of Pressure Vessel Under Thermo-Elastic Condition

Abstract

In this work, a pressure vessel under thermo-elastic condition is modeled which is useful for industries like refineries, power plant etc. The combined effect of internal pressure and steady-state temperature gradient is considered. A pressure vessel problem is formulated to minimize its total cost subjected to the constraints that can ensure safe design. The problem is solved using elitist Genetic Algorithm (GA). Further, simulations on stress against thickness are carried out, which reveal that the maximum shear stress gets reduced up to a certain thickness. After that, it starts increasing due to an increase in the compressive hoop/circumferential stress under thermo-elastic condition. The bi-objective optimization problem is then formulated by minimizing the total cost and the maximum shear stress simultaneously. The bi-objective problem is solved using elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm. The cost effective to the safe trade-off solutions are generated. These approximate Pareto-optimal solutions are evolved in two clusters in which the solution from one of the clusters is more preferable for practical and feasible pressure vessel design. The post-optimization analysis of results suggests that the bi-objective optimization study offers more valuable insight of the problem than the single-objective optimization.